Section 1- The objectives of this Association are to encourage friendly competition in golf among senior players residing in Northern California and to hold two annual golf tournaments at such private country clubs and/or public golf courses situated in Northern California as shall be approved by a majority of the Board of Governors. Other tournaments may be held if approved by the majority of the Board of Governors.

Section 2a- This organization does not contemplate pecuniary gain or profit to the members thereof and is organized for nonprofit purposes.

Section2b- Not withstanding any of the above statements of purpose and powers, this association shall not, except to an insubstantial degree, engage in any activities or exercise any powers that are not in furtherance of the specific purposes of the association.

Section 2c- If this organization holds any event(s) which members of the general public are invited to observe or participate in for a fee, the income from the general public, less a proportional share of the expenses which will not benefit members, will be paid over to an organization which is exempt from income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code on an annual basis.

Article III – Officers and Governors

Section 1- The officers shall be a president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary, all to be elected at the annual fall meeting of the association. The positions of assistant treasurer and assistant secretary may be filled, if necessary, by a nonmember of the Association chosen by the Board of Governors.

Section 2 – Although not mandatory, it is desirable and normally expected that a newly elected officer’s first position will be as the Association’s Secretary and that this individual will then progress through the Treasurer and Vice President’s positions before being considered a candidate for President. This logical progression of elected positions (Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President) affords the newly elected officer an opportunity to become familiar with the Association’s normal operating procedures and supports continuity and knowledge transfer among the Executive Committee and Board of Governors.

Section 3- There shall be a Board of Governors of eighteen members. At the annual fall meeting individual governors whose terms are expiring shall be replaced. A vacancy shall be filled by the president with the advice and consent of the officers of the board. The Executive Committee of the Association shall be composed of the four elected officers. They shall have all the powers of the Board of Governors when the Board is not in session.

Section 4- Governors and Officers shall assume the duties of their respective positions on January 1 of the year immediately following their election and serve until replaced. All Officers are part of the 18 member Board of Governors.

Article IV- Duties of Officers

Section 1- The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and Board of Governors, and report any matter which, in his judgment, may be important or of benefit to the Association. He shall be an ex-officio member of all committees and shall have the power to fill committee vacancies by appointment.

Section 2- The Vice-President shall, in the event of absence, death, or physical disability of the President, act in his stead in all matters. The Vice-President shall serve as the Chairman of the Tournament Committee for the current year.

Section 3- The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds of the Association, and deposit funds at a bank as directed by the Board of Governors. He shall mail and collect all bills for dues, initiation fees, and other charges in accordance with the Association’s approved budget and/or as approved by majority vote of the Board of Governors. He shall pay bills when duly approved by the President and Vice-President, and present an annual statement of the receipts and expenditures of the Association at each annual meeting. The Treasurer shall chair the Finance (Budget) Committee. The Finance Committee shall prepare and present the proposed budget for the following year at the October Board of Governors meeting. In addition, the Treasurer shall chair the Tournament Site Selection Committee the year following the Vice President’s tenure as the Chair of the Tournament Site Selection Committee.

Section 4- The Secretary or Assistant Secretary shall attend to the correspondence of the Association and keep the minutes of the meetings. In addition, the Secretary shall chair the Tournament Site Selection Committee to select the tournament venues to be scheduled two years in the future.

Section 5- The Assistant Treasurer and the Assistant Secretary shall perform such duties as may be assigned by the President and all other officers and committee chairmen in the performance of their duties.

Article V- Meetings

Section 1- The Annual Association Meeting and dinner for the transaction of business shall be held on one of the days designated for the conduct of the Association’s Annual Championship Tournament. Such day shall be designated by the President.

Section 2- The Annual Fall meeting and dinner shall be held on one of the days of the Four-Ball Championship and should be for the purpose of electing the officers and members of the Board of Governors whose terms are expiring. Minutes of the Annual Fall meeting shall be approved at the Board of Governors meeting in October.

Section 3- There will be a Board of Governors meeting in October of each year for the general conduct of business of the Association. At a minimum, the Association’s Annual Budget and major plans for the following year will be presented by designated officers and committees and approved by a majority vote of the Board of Governors.

Section 4- Members of the Association present at the Annual Association Meeting or any designated Special Meetings shall constitute a quorum. The order of business shall be 1) reading of the minutes 2) report of the President 3) report of the Treasurer 4) reports of the committees 5) unfinished business 6) new business and , if appropriate, 7) election of officers and Board of Governors.

Section 5- A special meeting of the Board of Governors may be called by the President, or any officer, at any time. A minimum of ten Governors must be present, in person or via electronic means, to constitute a quorum.

Article VI- Membership

Section 1- Any male amateur golfer who has reached the age of fifty by the first day of the current year’s championship, and is a member in good standing of a regular (green grass/permanently sited) golf club which is a member of the Northern California Golf Association, is eligible for membership. The applicant for membership must be sponsored by two current members in good standing of the Association. The application for membership must be filled out in its entirety and signed by the applicant and the applicant’s proposer and the seconder. Membership applications that are not in good order will be returned to the applicant’s proposer for correction of identified deficiencies.

Section 2- Upon receipt of a Membership Application in good order, the Association’s administrative assistant will forward the application by mail, fax, email or any other designated electronic conveyance to the Board of Governors for review and approval. A majority vote by the Board of Governors is required for admission to the Association or placement on the membership wait list.

Section 3- When an approved applicant has been notified of his election and he does not accept and/or pay his initiation fee and annual dues within 30 days, the Secretary or Assistant Secretary will then contact the proposer to determine the applicant’s intent. If the applicant has a good reason for not accepting and if it is his desire to remain on the waiting list, he then will be placed at the bottom of the membership wait list. Otherwise, the applicant will no longer be considered for membership in the Association.

Section 4- Any member may be expelled for cause by an affirmative two-thirds vote of the Board of Governors after the member has been given notice of the reasons for the expulsion and an opportunity for rebuttal.

Section 5- The classes of membership in the Association shall be as follows:

REGULAR membership shall be limited to 350 members.

HONORARY MEMBERS: The President of the United States or any other distinguished senior may be elected an Honorary Member of the Association by two thirds vote of the Board of Governors. An Honorary Member shall be exempt from paying initiation fees and annual dues.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS: All Past Presidents shall be Honorary Life Members and shall be exempt from payment of dues, but shall pay an entry fee for any tournament entered.

MEMBERS EMERITUS: This category is no longer offered; it was cancelled in May 2010. Existing emeritus members were grandfathered and no longer have to pay Annual Dues.

Article VII- Membership Committee

Section 1- There shall be a Membership Committee which shall consist of three members to be appointed by the President.

Section 2- The Membership Committee shall advise the Executive Committee on all matters related to membership trends, recruitment and retention and shall be responsible for developing and implementing plans to support the Association’s membership goals.

Article VIII- Initiation Fee and Dues

Section 1- The Initiation fee and annual dues shall be set yearly by the Board of Governors, payable on a designated date.

Section 2- Any member whose annual dues remain unpaid on the fifteenth of February shall cease to be a member and his name shall be dropped from the Association’s membership roster. Reinstatement may occur only after a review and favorable two-thirds vote by the Membership Committee.

Article IX- Tournaments

Section 1- The Association shall hold an Annual Championship Tournament at one or more golf courses located in Northern California each year, at a time to be designated by the Tournament Committee. An entry fee shall be charged for participation in the tournament and the amount shall be set by the Tournament Committee with majority approval by the Board of Governors. The tournament will be flighted at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. The member making the lowest gross score for thirty-six holes in the two-day play shall be the winner of the Annual Championship Tournament and designated as Senior Champion for that year.

Section 2- The Association shall have an annual Four-Ball Championship on one or more golf course locations in Northern California each year. The dates are to be set at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. An entry fee shall be charged and the amount shall be set by the Committee with approval by the majority of the Board of Governors.

Article X- Tournament Committee

Section 1- There shall be a Tournament Committee which shall consist of members to be appointed by the President. The Association’s Vice President shall be the Chairman of the Tournament Committee and shall be responsible for all matters related to the Association’s current year annual tournaments.

Section 2- The management of the Annual Championship and Four Ball Tournaments of the Association, and any other tournaments, shall be the responsibility of the Tournament Chairman and a Tournament Committee appointed by the President. The Tournament Committee shall be responsible for planning, budgeting and executing the association’s tournaments. It shall be the final arbiter in all complaints and appeals pertaining to the tournament or players therein, and its decision shall be final. It shall have full authority to enter into any arrangement and incur any expense necessary for the conduct of the Association’s Tournaments as long as the cumulative expenses for a particular tournament do not exceed the budgeted amount previously approved by the Board of Governors for that tournament.

Section 3 – As discussed in Article III, Section 2, there is an expectation that a newly elected Secretary will progress through the subsequent Officer positions of Treasurer and Vice President prior to becoming the Association’s President, assuming the individual is elected each year for those positions. This expectation and progression through the elected Officer positions support s continuity across multiple Tournament years and allows for the knowledge transfer from experienced Tournament Committee Chairmen and members to newly elected officers and newly appointed Tournament Committee Members. With this in mind, the Vice President will Chair the Tournament Committee for the current year’s tournaments. The Treasurer will assist with the Current Year Tournaments and will be the Chairman for the following year’s planned tournaments. The Secretary will assist the Treasurer on the following year’s tournaments and shall be the Tournament Chairman for tournaments scheduled two years into the future.

Article XI- Nominating Committee

Section 1- The Nominating Committee of five members shall be appointed by the President sixty days prior to the Annual Fall meeting and the committee shall nominate a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and any Governor whose term is expiring. Other candidates may be placed in nomination at the Annual Fall meeting, upon written request to the Board of Governors. The written request to nominate candidates must be submitted to the Association’s Secretary no later than fifteen days prior to the Association’s Annual Fall meeting. The written request shall list the candidates by name and shall be signed by at least fifteen members in good standing.

Article XII- Non-Acceptance of Trophies

Section 1- The Association shall not accept from any individual, firm, or corporation any prize or trophy to be competed for in any of its tournaments, except as may be provided in the event of team matches.

Article XIII- Team Competition

Section 1- In the event of team or teams of this Association competing with those of any other Senior Association, the President shall appoint a team captain and such captain shall have sole authority to select and appoint the members of the team or teams.

Section 2- The Tournament Committee shall have full authority to represent this Association in arranging the details of team matches, the time of holding same and the conditions of play. The Team Captain is responsible for the matching of individual players during the tournament. The President of the Association shall determine in advance of the Tournament if the designated Team Captain is a playing or non-playing member of the Association’s Team.

Article XIV- Guests

Section 1- The President may invite non-member dignitaries to participate in any Association Tournament and/or official function as a guest of the Association, without payment of fees, provided he obtains prior approval to do so by a majority of the Board of Governors.

Article XV- Amendments

Section 1- The foregoing Bylaws may be amended by a vote of two-thirds of the Board of Governors at any time, and such vote may be made by mail, fax, email or any other designated electronic conveyance.